The Support Ate it All-Chapter 338: Immortal Pot

[Immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot (S)]

▷ Indestructible (S)

▷ Energy Blocking (S)

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

▷ Impact Nullification (A+)

▷ Upgradeable

▷ Upgradeable

As expected of adamantite equipment, it bears the “Immortal” tag, and the options all emphasize durability.

Starting with the first option of Indestructible.

During the crafting process, the Underworld Dragon King must have used spatial magic to mold its shape, but now that it’s fixed, even that wouldn’t be easy to do again.

And on top of that, it doesn’t just block sword energy; it blocks Energy (Qi) itself.

Even if a martial arts master poured everything into a strike, it probably wouldn’t leave a scratch.

Also, as if to prevent a situation where the pot stays fine but the user gets hurt, it comes with an A+ rank [Impact Nullification] option.

And it even has two upgrade slots.

Depending on what gets added, it might even aim for a rank above S.

Of course, finding the right upgrades won’t be easy.

All in all, it was an incredible item.

From a defensive standpoint, it was even better than my seedling.

On the other hand, it did feel like a waste not to use adamantite to make something more practical than a pot.

Still, what matters most is that the person who got it is happy.

As expected, Seo Ye-in was caressing the pot like it was something precious.

After days of having dead fish eyes from the hardship quest, for once, her eyes were full of life.

She even seemed filled with fresh motivation, so I decided to row hard while the wind was blowing.

“Since you’ve got new gear, how about a test run?”

“Test run.”

Seo Ye-in gave a light nod.

And we immediately jumped into close combat sparring.

My toy hammer kept thumping on Seo Ye-in’s head.

More precisely, the pot that was now covering her head.

Ting! Ting ting!

“…Good performance.”

Seo Ye-in contentedly ran her hands over the pot.

Even though getting smacked with the toy hammer was safe, it usually caused a bit of irritation over time. But the pot was significantly offsetting that drawback.

Didn’t expect Impact Nullification to be this helpful.

Thanks to the A+ rank Impact Nullification option, she couldn’t feel a thing, no matter how many times she got hit.

The popping sound of the toy hammer and the clanging on the pot were relatively minor issues.

From my perspective, it was a win too.

If Seo Ye-in stayed in a better mood, it meant she could maintain a decent condition for longer periods of time.

Ting! Ting ting ting!

I swung the toy hammer without hesitation.

▷ Close Combat Proficiency (87/100%)

That day, Seo Ye-in’s proficiency shot up by a whopping 29%.

***

The long-awaited final day.

As I had been doing the past few days, I cast Chillwind when Seo Ye-in had slept for nearly nine hours.

Whoooosh—

The cold wind tickled her forehead, and Seo Ye-in opened her eyes in less than a second.

She was waking up faster than usual today.

She stared at me in silence, so I asked her,

“Is something wrong?”

“…It’s you.”

“Me what?”

“The culprit.”

“What culprit?”

I kept playing dumb, and Seo Ye-in tilted her head in suspicion but ultimately seemed to let it go.

I’d come clean about it later but now wasn’t the time.

It might negatively affect her training otherwise.

We rushed through breakfast like lightning and headed to the training room.

Then we resumed the close combat training.

Tututututu!

Her dual pistols alternated, firing bursts of blue flame.

I zigzagged forward with stealthy footsteps, deflecting the magic bullets with Dark Cloud as I advanced.

And when her gray eyes met mine,

[The target has been afflicted with the ‘Weathering (D)’ status effect.]

Wind coiled around Seo Ye-in’s body.

I had cast Mutual Destruction Eye.

Seo Ye-in immediately dispelled the debuff with [Purification].

With a flash of light, the wind vanished.

In that brief instant, I had already closed the distance.

The toy hammer came crashing down at a frightening speed.

But Seo Ye-in dodged to the side just in time.

I retrieved the hammer that had sliced through the air and this time swung it diagonally.

Seo Ye-in stepped back and fired a few rounds from her dual pistols.

Tututu! Tututu!

I used Wind Force to push her arms aside, then slammed the toy hammer down again.

Once again, she dodged with agility and counterattacked right after.

We kept missing each other, the clash turning into a series of whiffs.

Occasionally, I managed to land a hit.

Tang.

But compared to when she first received the trial quest, the frequency had noticeably decreased.

That meant she had become much more skilled in close combat.

Then, all of a sudden, Seo Ye-in stopped in place and looked into the air.

She pulled up her quest window and showed it to me.

▷ Objective 1: Achieve Close Combat Proficiency (100/100%)

“You finally did it.”

“…A triumph of humanity.”

I grabbed Seo Ye-in’s hands and shook them up and down enthusiastically.

Ahn Jeong-mi who had been waiting nearby also approached us.

Joy and emotion she couldn’t hide lit up her face.

“Young miss, Kim Ho-nm, you’ve both worked so hard.”

“I didn’t do anything. She’s the one who did all the hard work.”

“That’s not true. If you hadn’t guided her, it would’ve taken much longer.”

Since it wasn’t a lie, I didn’t try to act overly humble.

Seo Ye-in also chimed in, as if in agreement.

“Master teacher.”

“Where do you even pick up stuff like that?”

Anyway, now there was only one thing left.

▷ Objective 2: Defeat a monster of D-rank or higher in close combat (0/1)

Immediately, Ahn Jeong-mi pulled out a magic scroll.

The kind that summons a monster sealed inside when torn.

She had prepared it from the very beginning, ever since we first checked the quest requirements.

“It’ll be a bit tougher than a standard D-rank. Still, I figured a familiar monster would be better.”

“I think that’s a good idea too.”

It didn’t seem particularly dangerous.

Given her current stats and skill level, even a C-rank should be manageable.

I asked Seo Ye-in,

“Want help? Or do you want to try it alone?”

“Alone.”

“Sounds good.”

For sparring, she needed a partner, and I had to step in to teach her quickly. But for the final hurdle, it was better she did it on her own.

So I stepped aside to the edge of the training room, while Seo Ye-in and Ahn Jeong-mi stood facing each other.

“Young miss, are you ready?”

“Mhmm.”

Seo Ye-in nodded while wearing the immortal pot on her head and holding an assault rifle in both hands.

Soon, Ahn Jeong-mi tore the magic scroll straight down. With a surge of mana, the monster was summoned.

“Grrrrrrr…”

A large, muscular body.

A club in one hand.

It was an ogre.

Just as Ahn Jeong-mi had said, the ogre was about D+ rank, though strictly speaking, it was closer to C rank.

Still, it was the perfect opponent to gauge how much stronger she had become.

That’s because it allowed for a direct comparison with the mentoring session and the midterms.

Back then, she couldn’t even pierce through it properly.

Its hide had been so thick that even magic bullets had done nothing more than scratch it.

But in the meantime, Seo Ye-in had made incredible progress.

She had acquired a new weapon, and her magic bullets were now B-rank.

She had also learned two special bullet skills, allowing her to chain them with [Shock Bomb].

And those results would now be put to the test.

“Grrrrrr……”

When Ahn Jeong-mi who was standing nearby used stealth to erase her presence, the ogre’s gaze shifted toward Seo Ye-in.

Then, baring its hostility, it began to charge at her with terrifying speed.

Thud, thud, thud.

“……”

Seo Ye-in stared at the approaching ogre with indifferent eyes.

Her magic gun was still pointed at the ground due to the “reduced long-range damage” condition in effect.

Since it wouldn’t deal much damage anyway, she had decided to conserve her strength.

“Graaah!”

When its prey entered the attacking range, the ogre swung its club.

Instead of retreating, Seo Ye-in stepped in even closer with Feather Walk.

And just as the club missed her by a hair, her assault rifle began spitting blue fire.

Ratatatatata!

Boom-boom-boom!

A dozen or so magic bullets struck the ogre’s leg, triggering small explosions.

That one exchange left the creature’s leg in tatters.

Judging by its staggering movements, the injury seemed severe.

“Grrraah…?”

Even so, the ogre remained as tough as ever.

It limped and kicked at her, slamming its club down and reaching out with its bare hand, trying to grab her.

Seo Ye-in slipped deftly between its attacks and kept firing whenever an opening appeared.

Ratatatatatatata!

It didn’t take long before the ogre’s entire body was covered in wounds.

She’s practically toying with it.

At this rate, she’d probably bring it down without much trouble.

“Gooooough!”

The ogre too seemed to instinctively realize that it stood no chance like this.

Sensing that it had to make a desperate move somehow, it suddenly threw away its club.

Then, it swung its empty hand wide across the ground as if to sweep it clean.

In response, Seo Ye-in timed her moment and leaped high into the air.

“Jump.”

But just as she landed, the ogre lunged with its other fist, aiming straight for her.

It seemed there wasn’t enough time to dodge.

But at that critical, life-or-death moment—

Flash!

A sharp light gleamed in Seo Ye-in’s eyes.

She read the incoming punch in slow motion with bullet time.

Then, the immortal pot she wore on her head swung forward, colliding with the ogre’s fist in midair.

At first glance, it looked like an egg thrown at a rock….but the result was anything but that.

Claaang—!

The ogre’s punch was stopped in its tracks with a clear, ringing sound.

It was the effect of the A+-rank skill [Impact Nullification].

From that position, Seo Ye-in aimed her assault rifle at the beast.

Thunk—

A thick round fired out of the launcher attached beside the rifle’s muzzle.

The round struck the ogre square between the eyes and exploded on impact.

Booom—!

The ogre’s huge body swayed backward, then crashed to the ground.

And then, it scattered into particles of light.

[Side Quest: Stage 1 Hardship] (Complete)

▷ Objective 1: Achieve close combat proficiency (100/100%)

▷Objective 2: Defeat a D-rank or higher monster using close combat (1/1)

“Good job. Ogres are easy now.”

“…….”

Then Seo Ye-in came closer and quietly looked up at me.

At the same time, the immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho pot began to slowly rise.

“Why is the pot going up?”

“Cold wind.”

“…….”

“It was you.”

So it hadn’t blown over like I thought.

Now that the hardship quest was over, there was no reason to keep hiding it.

“It was me. I’m sorry.”

Since I had tricked her, I was even willing to take a hit for it.

But contrary to my expectations, the pot that had been rising steadily began to lower again.

Instead, Seo Ye-in reached out with her other hand and gently patted my head.

“……I’ll let it go.”

“What’s this? You’re not hitting me?”

“A generous heart.”

“Very admirable.”

Let’s try to keep that mindset going forward.

Seo Ye-in looked up at me again and spoke.

“I’m heading out now.”

“Home?”

“Mhmm.”

“Going to bed already?”

“Making up for lost sleep.”

She had only been sleeping nine hours a day lately, after all.

Since it was completely understandable, I nodded my head.

After that, Seo Ye-in moved around behind me.

“Piggyback ride.”

“You’re not that sleepy.”

“Piggyback ride.”

“Haah, fine, get on. Let’s call today Sloth Day.”

I figured I should be generous, at least for today.

I carried Seo Ye-in on my back and headed home.

Then, almost as if in passing, I threw out a question.

“Want to get a taste of Hardship Stage 2? Just a little?”

“No.”

Seo Ye-in shook her head firmly.

And then she emphasized it once more.

“No.”